” Thirty-two of the world’s best snipers met at Fort Bragg, N.C. to face off in the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School Sniper Competition, Dec. 2-6.

A two-man team assigned to the 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne) emerged as this year’s winner. Second place went to a team from 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne), with third place going to the Navy SEALs assigned to Naval Special Warfare-East.”

” How secure are U.S. military installations? You would think the answer is: very.

But, as the News 4 Tucson Investigators uncovered, one installation, right here in southern Arizona, continues to face potential outside security risks, and the problem doesn’t seem to be getting any better.

Much of the work that goes on at Fort Huachuca is classified but, as the News 4 Tucson Investigators learned, keeping people who don’t belong there out, proves to be a difficult mission.

Fort Huachuca is home of the U.S. Army Intelligence Center and the U.S. Army Network Enterprise Technology Command. It’s also the site of hundreds of apprehensions of illegal immigrants each year.

Dave Stoddard, a former U.S. Border Patrol supervisor tells the News 4 Tucson Investigators, “I think the average American should be petrified.”

Stoddard knows the area well. He grew up in Cochise county, served in the U.S. Army, and has even testified before Congress about illegal immigration.”

If government can’t even secure it’s own “Classified Military Facility” how are we supposed to have faith in their ability to secure the nation as a whole ? This is nuts . The time to build a real fence that at least offers some sort of deterrent effect is long past . We realize that some of the “mules” and illegals will get through but something must be done . How many terrorists have gained access to our country by taking the overland route from Mexico , we’ll never know , but while the TSA and DHS are making the average American’s travel life a living hell nobody is minding the back door .

This is the type of deterrent commonly found in the border areas , nothing that would give illegals pause , oh no , what our guardians do to protect the people that pay their salaries is to warn them not to go to certain areas of our own country . That’s on a par with the no-go zones that many European nations have allowed to fester and grow in their cities and that are making appearances here in the Dearborn Michigan and upstate NY .

” In a memo it distributed this week, the FBI warned that a breach of US government systems was “a widespread problem that should be addressed,” according to a Reuters report.

Activist hackers linked to the collective known as Anonymous have secretly accessed U.S. government computers in multiple agencies and stolen sensitive information in a campaign that began almost a year ago, the FBI warned this week.

The hackers exploited a flaw in Adobe Systems Inc’s software to launch a rash of electronic break-ins that began last December, then left “back doors” to return to many of the machines as recently as last month, the Federal Bureau of Investigation said in a memo seen by Reuters.

The memo, distributed on Thursday, described the attacks as “a widespread problem that should be addressed.” It said the breach affected the U.S. Army, Department of Energy, Department of Health and Human Services, and perhaps many more agencies.”

” Clocking in at a tiny eight-inches long and 2.1 ounces light, the PD-100 Black Hornet, was previously a mere prototype back in 2009, developed by Norwegian company Prox Dynamics AS. It has already been put to work by British infantrymen in Afghanistan, scouting possible routes for enemy ambushes or secretively flying over enemy compound walls for a look inside. The pocket-sized drones, which were unveiled at the Association of the U.S. Army Expo for the first time last week, are meant for a soldier’s personal use, not unlike a walkie talkie, and is similarly easy to operate.

Since the Black Hornet isn’t equipped with infrared abilities, it’s most suited for full daytime reconnaissance missions. The U.S. Army has purchased two Black Hornets, most likely for testing, while the British military already has 324 of the tiny spies waiting in the wings. In the meantime, Prox Dynamics AS is currently working on adding additional sensors and tweaking the drone for the ultimate stealth insect.”

This is an amazing leap in technology and one that is surely a welcome addition to the combat soldier’s kit , however , it demonstrates very vividly the need for a comprehensive review of and codification of the legalities of drone use on the domestic front . The potential for abuse by law enforcement of this nearly invisible spy is huge and considering that not a day goes by without us having some story of law enforcement thuggery to report , we most definitely cannot TRUST the State to do the right thing merely because they are the State .

” “What Would You Do?” by ABC is a hidden camera series where people are put into ethical dilemmas, given the choice between passively accepting injustice and standing up for what they believe is right.

” After most of the world’s population is wiped off the map by a wayward meteorite or hail of nuclear missiles, the survival of the human race might just depend on a few thousand people huddled in recreational vehicles deep in the bowels of an eastern Kansas mine.

That’s the vision of a California man who is creating what he calls the world’s largest private underground survivor shelter, using a complex of limestone caves dug more than 100 years ago beneath gently rolling hills overlooking the Missouri River.”

” “I do believe I am on a mission and doing a spiritual thing,” said Robert Vicino, who has purchased a large portion of the former U.S. Army storage facility on the southeast edge of Atchison, about 50 miles northwest of Kansas City, Mo. “We will certainly be part of the genesis.” ”

” The Afghan Taliban are ready to free a U.S. soldier held captive since 2009 in exchange for five of their senior operatives imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay as a conciliatory gesture, a senior spokesman for the group said Thursday.

The offer follows this week’s official opening of a Taliban political office in Doha, the capital of the Gulf state of Qatar.

The only known American soldier held captive from the Afghan war is U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl of Hailey, Idaho. He disappeared from his base in southeastern Afghanistan on June 30, 2009, and is believed held in Pakistan.”

” The U.S. Military does not build its own weapons. Instead, it purchases them from third party contractors who have proven that they provide the best weapon at the best price. One of these contractors is Trijicon, which manufactures rifle scopes. On these scopes, Trijicon includes what looks like a cryptic code, although it makes perfect sense to practicing Christians: JN8:12 and 2COR4:6. In other words, John 8:12 and Second Corinthians 4:6. Both passages refer to Jesus as a light in the darkness; neither advocates a crusading religious fervor.

Despite the fact that the notations matter only to those who care, have no meaning to those who don’t, and are too cryptic to count as proselytizing, Muslims have been complaining about that those thirteen characters for years. They challenged the same markings when they were discovered in 2010 on Army and Marine equipment.”

“A U.S. Army officer sent an email to dozens of subordinates listing the American Family Association and Family Research Council as “domestic hate groups” because they oppose homosexuality — and warned officers to monitor soldiers who might be supporters of the groups.

“Just want to ensure everyone is somewhat educated on some of the groups out there that do not share our Army Values,” read an email from Lt. Col. Jack Rich to three dozen subordinates at Fort Campbell in Kentucky. “When we see behaviors that are inconsistent with Army Values – don’t just walk by – do the right thing and address the concern before it becomes a problem.”

“It’s very disturbing to see where the Obama Administration is taking the military and using it as a laboratory for social experimentation — and also as an instrument to fundamentally change the culture,” he said. “The message is very clear – if you are a Christian who believes in the Bible, who believes in transcendent truth, there is no place for you in the military.”

The Army denied there is any attack on Christians or those who hold religious beliefs.” “

” The Army’s research and development arm has funded a three-year research program at University of California, San Diego investigating nanofoam for protection — the first foam armor endeavor ever, the college said.

“We’re developing nanofoams that help disperse the force of an impact over a wider area,” explained UC San Diego professor of structural engineering Yu Qiao. “They will appear to be less rigid but will actually be more resistant than ordinary foams.”

Qiao’s nanofoam may someday protect soldiers’ brains from blast trauma and prevent blast-induced lung injury. It may also be used to protect buildings from blasts.”

” In a training exercise in Afghanistan last month, a U.S. soldier was injured by a malfunctioning XM25 grenade launcher, so the Army has announced that they decided to pull the experimental grenade launcher so they can address the issue.

“The gunner training on the weapon system received superficial injuries,” Army spokesman Matthew Bourke told the Military Times. “The gunner was medically evaluated and returned to duty.”

While the grenade’s internal safeties prevented the grenade’s payload from detonation, the launcher suffered from a double-feed after firing out of battery.

The primer and propellant of the grenade detonated rendering the grenade launcher inoperable. This is the second critical malfunction the experimental weapon has had since being deployed to Afghanistan. The first design flaw, one that also allowed the XM25 to fire out of battery, has since been addressed.

The XM25 was scheduled to go into low-rate production later this year, with fixes and updates based its performance over nearly three years of service in Afghanistan, with ATK to deliver 36 more Punishers to the Army for service as part of a $65.8 million program to speed the XM25s development.”

It was expected to leave its experimental phase and enter full production in 2014.”

” After a lengthy back-and-forth bidding war between Colt and Remington, one that would eventually involve the Government Accountability Office and the threat of a Congressional hearing, F.N. Herstal has won the contract to update and replace the Army’s aging rifles.

In April of 2012, Remington finally broke the chain of Colt contracts with the U.S. Army, placing an $84 million bid for a run of 120,000 M4A1s, with 24,000 carbines to be delivered starting September of this year.

The cost per Remington M4A1 was just $673 per. Their bid severely undercut Colt’s previous contract, which priced the rifles at over $1,200 a piece.

FN’s contract with the Army is $77 million for the first 120,000 rifles, which works out to a bottom line of just under $642 per M4A1. These will be manufactured at FNH USA in South Carolina along side the M16A4s and M249s FNH USA currently produces for the U.S. armed forces.”

” Gordon L. Petro, a retired U.S. Army command sergeant major, thinks the two years he spent in captivity during the Korean War were a “cakewalk.”

“I spent a couple of years in a POW camp in Korea,” he said. “But it was probably a cakewalk compared to what those poor guys went through in Vietnam.”

U.S. Congressman Bill Posey presented the humble veteran, who served 27 years in the Army, with a Prisoner of War medal on Friday. Petro, who is now 80, retired as a command sergeant major and then pursued a career teaching Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps, or JROTC, in California. He retired, again, to Brevard County.”

Honor at Last for Roy P Benavidez

“I did this as a way to honor all those who have struggled to come back from serving our country in times of war. The most interesting part for me was something I didn’t find out until after I created this photoplay, was that this was Roy’s second tour. He had been so gravely wounded, by stepping on a landmine, on his first tour that he was drummed out of the Army after returning. Roy built his body back up and returned to the service after proving himself fit and joined the elite Green Beret’s and went back to Vietnam for a second tour for which he received the Medal of Honor.”

MSG Roy Benavidez speech 1991

Memorial to Roy P Benavidez

Rank: Master Sergeant

Organization: U.S. Army

Company: Detachment B-56

Division: 5th Special Forces Group

Born: 5 August 1935, DeWitt County, Cuero, Texas

Departed: Yes

Entered Service At: Houston, Texas June 1955

G.O. Number:

Date of Issue:

Accredited To:

Place / Date: West of Loc Ninh on 2 May 1968

Citation

” Master Sergeant (then Staff Sergeant) Roy P. Benavidez United States Army, who distinguished himself by a series of daring and extremely valorous actions on 2 May 1968 while assigned to Detachment B56, 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), 1st Special Forces, Republic of Vietnam. On the morning of 2 May 1968, a 12-man Special Forces Reconnaissance Team was inserted by helicopters in a dense jungle area west of Loc Ninh, Vietnam to gather intelligence information about confirmed large-scale enemy activity. This area was controlled and routinely patrolled by the North Vietnamese Army. After a short period of time on the ground, the team met heavy enemy resistance, and requested emergency extraction. Three helicopters attempted extraction, but were unable to land due to intense enemy small arms and anti-aircraft fire. Sergeant Benavidez was at the Forward Operating Base in Loc Ninh monitoring the operation by radio when these helicopters returned to off-load wounded crewmembers and to assess aircraft damage. Sergeant Benavidez voluntarily boarded a returning aircraft to assist in another extraction attempt. Realizing that all the team members were either dead or wounded and unable to move to the pickup zone, he directed the aircraft to a nearby clearing where he jumped from the hovering helicopter, and ran approximately 75 meters under withering small arms fire to the crippled team. Prior to reaching the team’s position he was wounded in his right leg, face, and head. Despite these painful injuries, he took charge, repositioning the team members and directing their fire to facilitate the landing of an extraction aircraft, and the loading of wounded and dead team members. He then threw smoke canisters to direct the aircraft to the team’s position. Despite his severe wounds and under intense enemy fire, he carried and dragged half of the wounded team members to the awaiting aircraft. He then provided protective fire by running alongside the aircraft as it moved to pick up the remaining team members. As the enemy’s fire intensified, he hurried to recover the body and classified documents on the dead team leader. When he reached the leader’s body, Sergeant Benavidez was severely wounded by small arms fire in the abdomen and grenade fragments in his back. At nearly the same moment, the aircraft pilot was mortally wounded, and his helicopter crashed. Although in extremely critical condition due to his multiple wounds, Sergeant Benavidez secured the classified documents and made his way back to the wreckage, where he aided the wounded out of the overturned aircraft, and gathered the stunned survivors into a defensive perimeter. Under increasing enemy automatic weapons and grenade fire, he moved around the perimeter distributing water and ammunition to his weary men, reinstilling in them a will to live and fight. Facing a buildup of enemy opposition with a beleaguered team, Sergeant Benavidez mustered his strength, began calling in tactical air strikes and directed the fire from supporting gunships to suppress the enemy’s fire and so permit another extraction attempt. He was wounded again in his thigh by small arms fire while administering first aid to a wounded team member just before another extraction helicopter was able to land. His indomitable spirit kept him going as he began to ferry his comrades to the craft. On his second trip with the wounded, he was clubbed from additional wounds to his head and arms before killing his adversary. He then continued under devastating fire to carry the wounded to the helicopter. Upon reaching the aircraft, he spotted and killed two enemy soldiers who were rushing the craft from an angle that prevented the aircraft door gunner from firing upon them. With little strength remaining, he made one last trip to the perimeter to ensure that all classified material had been collected or destroyed, and to bring in the remaining wounded. Only then, in extremely serious condition from numerous wounds and loss of blood, did he allow himself to be pulled into the extraction aircraft. Sergeant Benavidez’ gallant choice to join voluntarily his comrades who were in critical straits, to expose himself constantly to withering enemy fire, and his refusal to be stopped despite numerous severe wounds, saved the lives of at least eight men. His fearless personal leadership, tenacious devotion to duty, and extremely valorous actions in the face of overwhelming odds were in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service, and reflect the utmost credit on him and the United States Army. ”

” The blueprint for how Americans would be disarmed during a declared civil emergency is contained in an Army manual that outlines a plan to confiscate firearms to prevent them falling into the hands of rioters or dissidents.

In July 2012, the process by which this could take place was made clear in a leaked US Army Military Police training manual for “Civil Disturbance Operations” (PDF) dating from 2006. Similar plans were also outlined in an updated manual released in 2010 entitled FM 3-39.40 Internment and Resettlement Operations. “

” NEW BERN, N.C. — It was probably all over but the dying in late 1944, but no one could convince Germany’s Adolf Hitler of the fact.

In the seas, he was sending orders that virtually turned his once-feared, but now miniscule U-boat fleet into kamikazes; on land, he was pressing a mixture of his best warriors and some untrained teenaged soldiers to make a last great offensive to break the incoming Allied forces before they crossed the Rhine.

He chose to assault the American line along the Ardennes mountains in Belgium because he believed Americans would be the quickest to run. On Dec. 16, a surprise attack opened one of the longest battles of the war (it would last through late January 1945) — a battle that, at times, looked dark for the Yanks.

Its official name was the Ardennes Counteroffensive. But when newspapers ran maps showing the deep curvature of the American battle lines as a result of the offensive, the battle was popularly renamed “The Battle of the Bulge.”

Retired U.S. Army Col. Abbott Weatherly, now 96, remembers the battle well. He was in the thick of it, a young artillery major overseeing a battery with the 113th Field Artillery — a unit raised, in part, from Battery D, National Guard, in New Bern.

Abbott, born in 1916, graduated from the New Bern school system in 1935, when he signed up with the National Guard armory — located then where the New Bern police station is today. “

Words Obama Could Have Read But Didn’t

Citation

” Second Lieutenant Daniel K. Inouye distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism in action on 21 April 1945, in the vicinity of San Terenzo, Italy. While attacking a defended ridge guarding an important road junction, Second Lieutenant Inouye skillfully directed his platoon through a hail of automatic weapon and small arms fire, in a swift enveloping movement that resulted in the capture of an artillery and mortar post and brought his men to within 40 yards of the hostile force. Emplaced in bunkers and rock formations, the enemy halted the advance with crossfire from three machine guns. With complete disregard for his personal safety, Second Lieutenant Inouye crawled up the treacherous slope to within five yards of the nearest machine gun and hurled two grenades, destroying the emplacement. Before the enemy could retaliate, he stood up and neutralized a second machine gun nest. Although wounded by a sniper’s bullet, he continued to engage other hostile positions at close range until an exploding grenade shattered his right arm. Despite the intense pain, he refused evacuation and continued to direct his platoon until enemy resistance was broken and his men were again deployed in defensive positions. In the attack, 25 enemy soldiers were killed and eight others captured. By his gallant, aggressive tactics and by his indomitable leadership, Second Lieutenant Inouye enabled his platoon to advance through formidable resistance, and was instrumental in the capture of the ridge. Second Lieutenant Inouye’s extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit on him, his unit, and the United States Army.”

Instead He Spoke Of His Favorite Topic Of Conversation … Himself

” You know when you’re talking about a Medal of Honor winner and the highest ranked Asian elected official, there might be a few other topics to talk about then your own vacation memories, but well, Obama loves his vacations. He doesn’t love much else, but he sure loves his vacations. And talking about himself.

“Now, even though my mother and grandparents took great pride that they had voted for him, I confess that I wasn’t paying much attention to the United States Senate at the age of four or five or six. It wasn’t until I was 11 years old that I recall even learning what a U.S. senator was, or it registering, at least.”

Death must be a truly horrifying phenomenon for Obama. Other people at least take comfort in knowing that their country and their family will go on, but for Obama there is nothing else. Everything only exists in relation to him in a completely solipsistic universe.

” A M249 machine gunner runs directly towards a hail of Taliban PKM machine gun fire and RPGs, laying down suppressing fire once he makes it to cover. From the cameraman: This is a short video of first few minutes of one of our firefights in Afghanistan. We were crossing an open field when a RPG/PKM Taliban fire team engaged us from about 200 meters away. The initial shot was a RPG that landed about 10 meters away from Alpha team but did not explode and bounced over the file of soldiers. From that point a Taliban PKM gunner engaged us with about 200 rounds. No US soldiers were injured during this engagement. (Not shown in video) After about 15 minutes of trading rounds the Taliban ran away. “

” Citation Lieutenant Colonel Theodore Roosevelt distinguished himself by acts of bravery on 1 July, 1898, near Santiago de Cuba, Republic of Cuba, while leading a daring charge up San Juan Hill. Lieutenant Colonel Roosevelt, in total disregard for his personal safety, and accompanied by only four or five men, led a desperate and gallant charge up San Juan Hill, encouraging his troops to continue the assault through withering enemy fire over open countryside. Facing the enemy’s heavy fire, he displayed extraordinary bravery throughout the charge and was the first to reach the enemy trenches, where he quickly killed one of the enemy with his pistol, allowing his men to continue the assault. His leadership and valor turned the tide in the Battle for San Juan Hill. Lieutenant Colonel Roosevelt’s extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army. ”